Proud dad Earol Clarke is sure his son Jay is ready to take on the world’s best after watching online as he won his first ATP Challenger Tour tournament in the United States.

Derby’s Clarke leapt more prominently into the public eye when he made his Wimbledon singles debut last month, losing in a pulsating five-set first round match against former top 10 player Ernests Gulbis.

He followed up with a fairytale run to the mixed doubles semi-final with fellow Brit Harriet Dart before they lost to Britain’s Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

But away from the glamour of Wimbledon is the reality of the hard slog around the Challenger circuit, a competitive, worldwide set-up full not only of up and coming players like Clarke but a few, too, who have slipped away from higher places in the world rankings.

It means dad Earol is grateful for the quality of online communications these days to keep up with his 20-year-old son, who is in the States at least until after the US Open at the end of August.

He will then be training in Spain and Earol expects him to pop home to Derby for a couple of weeks around November.

It is all a far cry from the little boy who joined the Derby Congregational club and was featured in the Derby Telegraph for the first time when he won a junior tournament at the age of nine in 2008.

This week, in Binghamton, New York, Jay won his latest Challenger tournament, winning a tight final against Australian Jordan Thompson 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in a match running only four minutes short of three hours.

That came after Jay, ranked 225 in the world going into the tournament, was 4-0 down and almost beaten in the second set tiebreak against world number 98 Thompson.

He started by beating Yungsong Chung of Korea 6-1, 7-6, then Marcos Giron of the US 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. When he beat Russia’s Evgeny Karlovskiy 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-final, he ended his opponent’s winning streak, which had covered four tournaments. It was also Jay’s 20th birthday.

Second seed Marcel Granollers of Spain, who had not dropped a set, was seen off 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-final to set up the clash with top seed Thompson, the losing finalist from the previous year’s tournament.

Beating him lifted Clarke to a career-high 175 in the world and number three in Britain as his exceptional rise through the rankings continues. Binghamton is a tournament previously won on their way up by British stars Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund.

Earol Clarke collects the Derby Telegraph Sportsman of the Year award on behalf of his son Jay in November. (Image: Alex Cantrill-Jones, ACJ Media)

“What a performance it was from Jay,” said his dad, who was able to watch the final streamed live online. “He was 4-0 down in the second tie-break and looked dead and buried. And then he produced four of the most wonderful shots.

“He took the lead with a forehand down the line that was just amazing. Roger Federer would have been proud of it. He found the only small available spot on the court to hit it. The match was two hours, 56 minutes, the second-longest they have had on the Challenger circuit, but he looked strong and fresh at the end.

“Jay is in excellent condition, he’s so fit. My boy has become a man and I’ve seen that difference, I think, since Wimbledon. Everything changed with that loss to Gulbis.

“Jay was 19 then and when I saw a picture of him shaking hands with Gulbis, he looked like a boy. He was 20 last week and now I am looking at pictures this week and seeing a man.”

Given all that the Clarke family have gone through, battling for recognition and sponsorship when Jay was young, it seems remarkable that his father should single out the moment of defeat at Wimbledon as such a life-changer. But, who knows better, apart, possibly, from Jay’s brother and sister Yasmin and Curtis, both players themselves and part of his coaching team.

“Jay is analysing games straight after, win or lose, working out how he could have done things better,” said Earol.

“Every day he plays, I can see him learning. His serve is getting heavier and his ground strokes are so solid. The team go through everything with him, right down to local customs wherever he is playing, and there has never been any jealousy from my other children. They are all working for Jay.

“I love, too, that he makes time for people. He will go and talk to disabled children at tournaments and things like that, which are important. We are moving in the right direction.”

* Meanwhile, Derbyshire had mixed blessings in tennis’s Summer County Week, with the men relegated from Division One in Eastbourne, while the women were bering promoted as champions of Diviasion Four in Cheltenham.

The men were always up against it and lost all five of their matches, although tight 5-4 reverses to Middlesex and Hertfordshire could have made the difference if they had gone the other way.

“The boys worked really hard and people don’t realise how hard it is to play three matches in one day,” said non-playing captain Dennis Archer.“Middlesex is the one we felt we should have won but it wasn’t to be.”

The women won four of five matches to top Division Four and continue a rise back up the rankings. South Wales and Staffordshire were both thrashed 8-1 and East of Scotland 7-2 and although they were edged out 5-4 by Lincolnshire, Derbyshire came to the last match against Durham with both teams already promoted.

“You only get the trophies if you win the division, though, and we were very determined,” said captain Katy Higson.

A few years ago, the team slipped from Division Two to Division Six but three promotions in five years will seen them back in Division Three next season.

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